Scania stretches to new heights

Scania has entered the Guiness Book of Records with the world’s tallest concrete pumper mounted on a seven-axle Scania V8 model built at its factory in Sodertalje, Sweden.

High rise. The extraordinary 101 metre reach of the world’s biggest concrete pumper, mounted on the 15.5 metre spread of a Scania V8 rigid.

Chinese concrete machinery manufacturer Zoomlion commissioned Scania to provide a truck for a superstructure that would provide a pump with a seven-section boom reaching 101 metres.

Critically, the last four sections of the boom are made of carbon fibre to provide the light weight and strength needed to carry concrete over such a long pumping distance.

According to a press statement from Scania, recent years have seen the Chinese giants of the world concrete pump industry outdo each other time and again in a bid to crack the 100 metre concrete pumping threshold. Only now, however, has the target been reached.

To cope with the weight of the massive boom, a seven-axle chassis was deemed essential and with technical assistance from Swedish company Laxå Special Vehicles, the 15.5 metre chassis – powered by a 620 hp V8 engine – is said to be the longest ever built by Scania.

The complicated superstructure was developed by Zoomlion and Italian construction equipment maker Cifa, a subsidiary of the Chinese giant, and built at Zoomlion’s main facility in Changsha in central China.

With an overall length of 18.5 metres, it is a truly exceptional vehicle, not least for the fact that the pump structure is mounted on a ‘normal’ truck chassis rather than a special vehicle, which means it complies with the maximum dimensions and footprints imposed for road transport.

Through its China operation, Scania has delivered trucks to Zoomlion since 2008. The truck chassis have been increasingly customised to facilitate and streamline Zoomlion’s work of fitting superstructures.

Known simply as ‘Pump 101’, the world’s biggest road-going concrete pumper will make its first public appearance at the Bauma China 2012 trade fair in Shanghai from November 27 to 30.